Thursday, November 29, 2012

The winter. It's a bit of a pain in the face isn't it? Literally! Red noses are cute on kids but not on us. We've enough to be worrying about with dry lips, cakey skin, not to mention ruddy faces after trying not to die on the ice on the way home from work.

Avene has some products on hand to take one less thing off our plate during the winter months. And am I right in saying that I read we're going to have two months of insanely low temperatures this winter?! Ah here, what are we waiting for, let's start preparing our visages now!

First up is the Antirougeurs Calm Redness Relief Soothing Repair Mask. This mask helps reduce the appearance of redness on your little face, helps ease discomfort and can be used after laser treatment. I shall be using this when it gets a bit colder to see if it helps calm things down. For those with rosacea, this will help cool and calm your face.

The Hydrance Optimale Rich Hydrating Cream sounded scary at first but after trying it, I realised it wasn't a thick greasy cream. Instead it's a rich cream that absorbs easily into the skin and I've been using this in the morning as soon as I get up. By the time I'm ready to apply the war paint, it has sunk in and I'm ready to pack on the make up. Up until a couple of years ago, I was afraid to use anything too hydrating on my skin as I'm an oily lady, so assumed I had to shy away from anything too thick. And I wondered why my skin would get dry and flaky during the winter months! Everyone should add something richer and more hydrating to their skin care routine as the days get colder.

Ah, the Cold Cream Lip Cream (€10.50) how I love you. I bought this earlier in the year and still turn to it in times of need. I leave mine in the car, forgetting that it's colder now and the cream solidifies which means I have to basically sit on it to warm it up, but it's totally worth it. It's super moisturising and you can read my full review here.

Finally the Rich Skin Recovery Cream. Aimed for those who have sensitive and sensitised skin, this helps calm any irritation and rebuilds the hydrolipidic film on your skin. This has a really thick consistency so I like to rub it between my fingers on both hands and then pat it into the skin. I find trying to rub it in is a bit harder so patting works best for me. It takes a few minutes to sink into the skin and then you're good to go with you make up.

What are your winter staples ladies? What Avene products do I need to try next?

We all know that I'm scared of really bright lip products. I'm getting better and braver but products like this one from Inglot is the perfect transitional product for scaredy cats like me. The Sleeks Cream Lip Paints are smooth, non sticky and are are more pigmented than a regular gloss but more sheer than a lipstick.

Can I just say how much I love the packaging?! Coming in a very scientific test tube, it's slick, sleek and other words beginning with "s". I got shade 103 to play with a couple of weeks ago and I'm in The Love.

When I first saw the tube, I had a mini stroke at how bright it was, but also knew that Christmas is coming and bright lips are the norm at parties. As soon as I swatched it on the back of my hand, I know that 103 and I would be very happy together. It's more muted when applied on the lips which is right up my street and colour wise, it looks more orange in the tube compared to the almost strawberry tint it leaves on my lips. I get a couple of hours before I need to reapply. It's the perfect shade for moi lads and I don't feel self conscious wearing it and it feels so comfy on.

It's definitely worth the €12 price tag and I can't wait to try more of these shades. Have you tried any of these yet? What colour do I need to try next?

Wednesday, November 28, 2012

Ah Fearne Cotton. You shall forever be known to me as Dot Cotton thanks to Keith Lemon.... I must say, I do love her style, Fearne that is. But when you think about it, Dot Cotton herself can rock a hair poof and cardi like nobody's business.

This Christmas, Boots has a great selection of cosmetics from Fearne and I have one of her nail polish sets to play with, Perfectly Polished. €15.50 will get you six gorgeous polishes, three shimmery and three creamy.

So far I've tried the orange one on the left and the pink on the far right and they're gorgeous. They only need two coats and the creamy shades show no sign of streaks. There's another six polish set from Fearne full of really dark shades but I think if you're going to get a set for someone this Christmas, go for this lighter one as it'll be coming into spring and brighter shades will be in demand.

A little flash photography brings out each shade beautifully and you can see the shimmer and opacity of each polish.

Get yourself down to Boots and check these guys out. They'd make a fantastic Secret Santa present and at €15.50, are very bargainous. And come on, they're always running the 3 for 2 offers, so no excuse!

Tuesday, November 27, 2012

This review comes courtesy of the brothership, aka Stephen, aka Lovely Manly Dangly Bits. See, it's his own fault, he agreed to do one review ages ago and now there's no going back! He's here to help you pick out some great products for the man in your life, or if you're a man and have stumbled across this Lovely Girlie Bits site, then sorry but it's not a rudie one, but keep reading, you might see something you like! Stephen's reviewing the new exfoliating cleanser from Clarins which promises to clean, exfoliate and prepare the skin for shaving. He's currently sporting the biggest 80s mustache I've ever seen in my life for Movember so he'll get good use out of this when he goes to shave it allllll off!

I thought my review stint was finished after the last Dangly review. Sadly, an ominous brown envelope arrived on my doorstep with pictures of someone - not a million miles away from this keyboard - pasted with make-up as a 14 year old for a bit of 'craic' with the words 'Do it - or else' attached on a Post-It...

Clarins Nettoyant Exfoliant €25.52

So today's review is for Clarins Exfoliating Cleanser. Now I'm not sure if its doing what its supposed to, but after I use it my face squeaks. Yep, squeaks. It could be removing a lot of manly dirt or literally melting my skin off but either way it squeaks. Think the old Fairy liquid ad and the noise after a plate is washed.

End result is one clean, exposed face. I say exposed because despite Sister Girly Bits telling me to put on a bitta moisturiser after I use it, someone forgot. And that same someone got a couple of humdinger spots shortly after. Once I followed the sage advice from Girly Bits all was well and happy to report that my face has not melted off. Always a good thing.

Dangly Bits Rating: 8/10 (Docked two marks due to squeakage and the "mild green Fairy liquid" tune that stuck in my head for one whole day due to said squeakage)

If this manicuring continues I'll be as kept as yer wan off X-Factor. You know. Rylan.

This Thanksgiving post is courtesy of the two gorgeous ladies from Dollyrouge! I've met them both separately lots and it was only recently that I met them together! This is huge lads because not only do they blog together, but they work together and can never get the same time off, so until the next new moon when they're both off work, I'm delighted to have them together on the blog at the same time! Thanks so much ladies for the guest post and be sure to check out their blogaroonie here at Dollyrouge.ie.

Rachelle says...

When Karen asked myself and Kat what we were thankful for in terms of beauty products one thing sprung to my mind immediately; The Babyliss Big Hair.

The Big Hair yolkie-ma-bob (to give it its full title) completely transformed the way I style my hair at home..

Life pre-Big Hair was an endless round of buying and trying various different lotions, potions and tools, most of which left me with sad, lank tresses. Ghd's and me never did become firm friends and curling tongs and I have had a few run ins over the years, including most recently where I managed to melt the lid of the kitchen bin and proceed to curl the melted plastic into my hair; it ended in tears nonetheless with hair having to be cut and curling abandoned. (If you are wondering how this happened it basically involved me resting the hot tongs on the bin, then picking them straight back up without minding to continue curling). Not my finest moment I will admit.

Before purchasing the Big Hair I deliberated for months on end, read review after review, and watched YouTube video after YouTube Video. I finally gave in when Littlewoods sent me a 20% off voucher ;)

I panicked when I first de-boxed the Big Hair; its rotating barrel looked a lot scarier in real life when compared with the online tutorials I had been watching. Thankfully it turned out not to be as scary as it looked and really quite simple to use. Not only can it transform the most awful bad hair days but its perfect for lazy ladies like myself. You literally just move the tool up and down your hair as if you were brushing it. The rotating brush just does its magic and hand on heart I haven't yet become entangled in it! Entanglement was my number one fear before I bought the BigHair but i needn't have worried. I have actually, honestly, 100% found the next best invention since sliced bread. Life without the BigHair ladies, is really just unthinkable!

Kat says...

I thought long and hard about the question Karen posed. To be honest there's a lot of beauty bits I'm extremely thankful for. As I sit here typing this, I just caught a glimpse of myself in the mirror - no makeup, bleary eyed and dark circles from a sinus cold, corpse lips and non-existent lashes. The fact that I can lash on a bit of concealer, lippie and mascara to totally transform my face (and mood) is very comforting altogether!

Though if there was really, truly only one product I could use for the rest of my life, I think it would have to be retinol. I've written at length about the wonders of this vitamin A derivative before so I won't reinvent the wheel. Suffice to say, retinol is the only over the counter cosmetic ingredient which is scientifically proven time and time again to promote collagen production, reduce hyper pigmentation, clear pores and prevent acne. Short of having a dermatologist in your pocket, this is the most effective anti-acne and anti-ageing ingredient out there. And since I suffer from both woes is it any wonder I love it? [Still spotty AND starting to get wrinkles, oh the humanity! First world problems eh?!]

I've been using vitamin-A derivative products since my early 20s to fight acne, and its had the fortunate side effect of holding my fine lines in stasis for the past years. The only part of my face which is noticeably ageing is my under eye area, because high strength retinol is too strong for that delicate area. In fact I was recently ID'd buying beer in the weekly shop while wearing no makeup, and I've just turned 28! I choose to put that down to my youthful skin and not the cute pony t-shirt I was wearing....

Monday, November 26, 2012

This Thanksgiving post is from Siun of Trickling Beauty! Siun has a killer eye for gorgeous pieces of jewellery and I often find myself wishing she was my personal shopper.... We are kindred souls as we both love to dye our hair and Siun recently went from blonde to brunette and it looks stunning on her. And girlfriend can rock a red lip like nobody else as you'll see in this post and today she's giving thanks for fabulous red lippies.
With the festive season now officially upon us, I couldn't not write about red lips when Karen asked me to guest post for her. I have built up quite the collection, picking up both high end and pharmacy brands and giving them a whirl. Below is a round-up of my favourites, ones that are comfortable, glamorous and perk up my pale pallor.

Left to right are Natural Collection's Moisture Shine in Crimson, Giorgio Armani Rouge Hydratant in 200, Mac's Russian Red and Kate Moss for Rimmel in 01.

I applied two coats of every shade with this eyeliner brush that comes free with the brilliant Maybelline gel liner.

Giorgio Armani Rouge Hydratant in 200

First up is my absolute favourite, it's luxurious, comfortable and stays put. It is, of course, the most expensive one, Giorgio Armani's 200. It costs about €26 and if I were to buy any red lippie again, this would be it. It does help that the packaging is absolutely slick.

Kate Moss - Rimmel 01

Next up is Kate Moss' red offering from her first collection with Rimmel. It's not shiny but not matte either and it has a lovely depth to the colour. You can expect to pay about €8 for this one. Bargain for a real beauty.

Mac Russian Red

Next up is Mac's cult classic, Russian Red. I love the shade but the matte texture can be a little drying. It's a high maintenance but beautiful, like any good woman! This one is about €18.

Natural Collection's Moisture Shine in Crimson

Lastly, the Natural Collection offering. It's under €5, the most sheer of the pack but with a lovely cherry red sheen.

This Thanksgiving post is from Emma of Fluff and Fripperies! I like to call Emma Wonder Woman because she does a million things effortlessly. She writes for her own blog fluffandfripperies.com, for beaut.ie, for shesaidbeauty.com and has a full time job! Andddddd she deservedly won Best Irish Beauty Blog at this year's Blog Awards Ireland! All she's missing is the costume and bullet dodging bracelets! So, what's Emma thankful for? Read on...Hmm, what am I most thankful for, beauty-stylee? I guess it's the way that technology keeps marching on, and the clever beauty boffins keep coming up with solutions to age-old beauty problems. Here's a few examples:

ONE: Huzzah! Rejoice! We have finally won the fight against frizz! Having spent my teens with a halo of fuzzaround my head, I can't tell you how grateful I am for the new generation of hair oils. Now we have products thatcan make even the driest and frizziest of barnetts look silky and sleek; the younger me never thought she would see the day. My favourite? Shu Uemura's Essence Absolue Nourishing Protective Oil, but I also love L'Oreal's Elvive Extraordinary and Mythic Oils, Moroccanoil and Ojon's Rare Blend Oil.

TWO: Even though reapplying lipstick isn't exactly the most arduous chore, I spent most of the 90s hunting for the perfect longwear lip colour - but in vain. Fast forward a few years and we're spoiled with a vast array of products that really do hang about all day. I like the NYC lipstains and Stila Long Wear Lip Colour, but with their SuperStay range, Maybelline are really leading the way. Their 10 Hour Tint Glosses are a great dupe for YSL's Glossy Stains, and the SuperStay 14 Hour Lipstick in Infinitely Fuchsia is a current fave.

THREE: DIY treatments are almost unrecognisable from the messy, time-consuming, sometimes painful and always smelly home treatments of the past. I coloured my hair throughout my teens - along with the bathroom and half of my mum's best towels - and the experience scarred me for life. But the recession drove me back to home colouring last year; I tried the Clairol Perfect 10 kit andwas delighted with how painless the process has become. Looking for a change? Try the L'Oreal Préférence Wild Ombré dip dye kit - it's absolutely brilliant. Self tanning and waxing are also much improved. I've had no disasters with Rockstar Tan's 'Fame' and the Veet EasyWax Electrical Roll-On Kit was another revelation.

What beauty innovations have really changed YOUR life? Share them in the comments!

Friday, November 23, 2012

This Thanksgiving post is from Marian from The High Life of Mars! Marian is my zombie twin (long story) and is a fantastic make up artist who inspires me to try new things all the time. Her Halloween looks were brilliant this year and I expect great things from her next year! So take it away Mars!

So for those of you who don't know me, I'm Mars from The High Life of Mars, a beauty blog that

I have been running for about a year now. When Karen asked me to do a guest post for when she

was away on her holliers, I was delighted and of course said yes! I mean who wouldn't want to be

featured on the awesomeness that is Lovely Girlie Bits! So as Karen is heading off to the Big Apple

for Thanksgiving I thought what would be better than to look at some Thanksgiving makeup.

First up is the all-important eyeshadow. Now I don't know about you, but when I think about

Thanksgiving makeup, I think golds, bronzes and cranberries (not the band!). These are colours

that remind me of autumn, sitting in front of the warm fire and eating turkey with cranberry sauce!

So I routed around in my makeup collection and pulled out a few shadows that I think suit that

description. A few of them are old favourites like Urban Decay Half Baked and Mac Woodwinked,

while some are from new collections this season, such as ARTDECO Glam Bliss Taupe and Lancome

Fil D'Argent. One of my favourites though, and one that is perfect for Thanksgiving, is Make Up

Forever Star Powder in 917. This shadow is something similar to Mac Cranberry but just has a little

bit more depth and richer colour to it. I love this shadow with blue eyes, because it really makes

them pop.

Next up is eyeliners. Now again there is no rhyme or reason to this but I stuck with golds and berry

This Thanksgiving guest post is from Sue Conley of brightandbeautyfull.com and we are kindred spirits you see. We both carry an insane number of lip products on our person and have been known to have Twitter chats where we Twitpic the contents of our handbag, pockets, desk etc to see who is the most mental of the two. As it stands, it's a tie, but that could all change in a heartbeat... The highlight of my friendship with Sue was the culmination of weeks of preparation.... We met up last week and reenacted a hug from our favourite show, Revenge. If you watch it you'll know what this means... Thanks a million Sue for this here guest post and I'll try to do you proud when I'm in your homeland!

I tend to err on the side of gratitude, as I am of sincere personality, which can come across as kind of squicky and revolting. It tends to make other people uncomfortable, but sure, feck 'em if they can't take a compliment. I think there's just enough salt in my demeanor to make up for it, a ying/yang thing, that causes me to be open-minded, yet suspicious.

This stands me in exceptionally good stead as a beauty blogger.

In honour of our dear Karen's trip to NYC for the Thanksgiving holiday, I cast a cold yet hopeful eye over a variety of travel sets that cover a variety of length of days away, and, ahem, a variety of circumstances.

THE DIRTY WEEKEND During which time, paradoxically, you would like to be clean. Aromatherapy Associates offer up their Soothing Introductory Set (€39.50; millies.ie) probably not as a way to keep your skin fresh and supple over a long randy weekend, but their 'serving sizes' are perfect for three to four days in which one needs easily portable skin care. Included here is moisturiser, cleansing balm, serum, a treatment mask, and face oil. That pouch is clever, and the smallness of the sample sizes allows one room to lash in other necessaries.

The smallness of the sample sizes is an issue regarding price, but the quality of the product is such that the auld truism rings, well, true: the posher the product, the less you need to use. I found the serum to be especially good value, and the face oil is the business.

THE LONG WEEKEND, DIRTY OR NOT This Organic Skin Care Collection from Pukka Ayurveda (€30) could easily stretch to five days. I'm imagining a cottage down the country, with long walks during the day, and longer nights in front of the fire, sipping on the uisce beatha after having eaten a really nice meal, cooked by someone else.

There you sit, smug in the knowledge that you'll be tending to your skin with product made from sustainable ingredients, products that contain nary a petrochemical. You've got your day cream and night cream, a serum and cleanser, a toner and a wee packet of face oil. Can't imagine needing more than that.

The brand may be known to most as a purveyor of teas that align with one's ayurvedic body type. A while back, I tried their Nourishing Face Oil with Organic Rose Otto, Avocado & Pomegranate, and did mot like it muchly. I wonder is this one of those lines with which you must use all their own products to get the best result? I do like the serum, and the toner, so the next time I am invited to a cottage down the country, I'll give the whole kit a whirl.

THE TEN DAY TOUR Tour of wherever, it doesn't matter, and in fact, it may be that you are going to two places in the ten days! You lucky cow! I don't know how much a cow likes a bee, but the Essential Burt's Bees Kit (€15.95), is… essential for a journey of medium duration.

Now, the contents are slightly eccentric when you think about it. Cleansing cream, hand slave, body lotion lip balm, foot cream? Perhaps you are going rock climbing? I don't know. I do know that the lip balm is worth the price of admission, as is the foot balm. This is saying something because I think feet are gross and don't even like touching my own. Gross! But I apply this with abandon, so believe me, it is good. The sample sizes are of the perfect mls to get you through a week and bit.

THE FAB FORTNIGHT I have only recently comes across the Korres brand, and Best of Korres (€23; oliverbonas.com) seemed a terrific way to familiarize myself with their work. Begun in a homeopathic pharmacy owned and operated by Giorgio Korres in Athens, their Wild Rose 24-hour Cream was their first global best seller.

You will find a sample of this in the box, a sturdy box that will stand the test of luggage-time without flinching. Also inside are 50ml samples of Guava Body Butter, Basil Lemon Shower Gel, Vanilla Cinnamon Shower Gel, and Evening Primrose Eye Cream. Could have done with only one shower gel, frankly, and maybe have replaced that with a serum — I am a serum addict — but otherwise: 50ml samples! Astonishing!

You could take them with you when you go to visit Greece! That would be totally appropriate and also crazy!

And if anyone else is traveling to New York over the Thanksgiving holiday, here's a Pro Tip from someone who knows: the night before the big Macy's parade, the hot air character balloons are blown up near the Museum of Natural History on the Upper West Side, in the environs of 79th and 81st street. The balloons are iconic, and the best thing about the parade, IMO. Being able to see them at up close and personal? Coolest. Thing. Ever.

***

Sue Conley blogs over at brightandbeautyfull.com. She is also the author of Drama Queen and The Fidelity Project, both available for order online, and for download, too!

Thursday, November 22, 2012

Today's guest posts is by none other than the hi-larious Mags from Emerald Eyeliner. Or Actionmags. Or Magaluf as I like to call her. Every one of her posts makes me laugh out loud and she's as funny in person as she is in The Real Life. She is the queen of all things Stila and can wear bright lippie like nobody else! What's Mags thankful for this year? Well git on down and read it!

Hi My name is Mags - (otherwise know as Actionmags) I write a beauty blog called Emerald eyeliner with one and a half other beauty fans - although it has to be said I am probably the biggest beauty junkie out of the three of us. I love trying new beauty products and the blog gives me a great excuse to try new things.

My little guest post for my pal Karen who is lucky enough to be heading to New York - my favourite place on the planet, and probably my favourite place to buy beauty products (there is practically a Sephora on every corner). I am going to chat about the five beauty things related things that I am most thankful for (it being Thanksgiving and all) five things that I want to thank the Beauty Gods for.

1. Stila - of course it has to be Stila. I am so happy with the triumphant return of Stila to our fair Emerald Isle. Stila is by far my favourite makeup brand and that is quite a challenge in itself after all I am a lover of all things makeup. Stila bring us the most amazingly innovative products, in the most flattering colours, in the prettiest packaging - how can you not love it. We are so lucky now that Stila has expanded and as well as being available in Boots Liffey Valley (if this list was longer Boots Liffey Valley would deffo be something I thank the beauty gods for- for me its one of the happiest places on earth), ASOS, Stila.co.uk and now there fab new counter in Harvey Nicks Dublin. Me being Stila OCD I have purchased from them all. Stila have great things to look out for in 2013 including a skincare line.

2. YSL Shocking Mascara. Oh eyelashes why do you do these things to me? I have the most ridiculously short and stubby lashes and there are about 4 of them. 4 sad and lonely lashes. I mean come on a girl needs some lashes - its how we tell the girl cows from the boy cows in cartoons and here is me with stubby boy cow lashes (just to mock my own lashes himself has beautiful full and long lashes). Lashes open your eyes make you look younger and your eyes bigger, my little eyes need all the help they can get. When my blogging partner in crime was going through the Duty Free (ahh Duty Free again this would also be on my never ending thank the Beauty Gods List) I asked her to pick me up YSL Shocking Mascara - as my lashes are very disappointing boy cow lashes I never really spend any money on them - enter YSL Shocking Mascara. Well stick a hat on me and call me Daisy. This is a thick and very black mascara that creates volume and thickens your lashes as well as lengthening them. It makes me feel like I have eye lashes which is a beauty miracle and as an added bonus it doesn't make your lashes crispy.

3. Bright pink lipstick - I don't need a specific brand (although my current favourites are Stila's Foire and Bare Minerals Ambition). As mentioned above I have little little eyes (ikle ikle) so I love to wear a vibrant lip its my way of saying - "Don't look up there - nothing to see there, look down here". These shade brighten up and give a bit of vitality to my face. Towards Christmas I will move on to reds but most of the year hot pink lippies are my BFF.

4. Boots Card, Arnotts Card, Brown Thomas Card, Debenhams Card - you get the idea. I am not talking about credit cards I am talking about reward cards. I love drooling over luxury brands but as we all are trying to be sensible this weather (doesn't it suck) I don't treat myself as often as I used to. What can make a girl happier that deciding to buy a spendy product and BAM there is five euro on your card. I am currently "saving up" my Boots points for a YSL lipstain - come on we have to thank the Beauty Gods for free makeup.

5. Perspective - no perspective is not a hip new brand that all the "Cool Kids" are using. When I was a teenager I used to obsess over my big nose (big nose and small eye - I sound adorable). I used to think I needed a nose job and generally obsess about the ugliness of my nose. Luckily enough as I got older I filled out (I got fat) and stopped thinking about my nose and started to worry about my weight. The reality of situation is none of us are perfect and our big nose, small eyes, wobbly belly aren't really noticed as much by others cause they are far too busy worrying about their own imperfections. Lets face it, these imperfections are what makes us interesting and not boring clones. If I get a bit hippy about the whole thing, it really is whats inside that can make people attractive (except Victoria Secret Models - they are in fact Beauty Gods visiting earth). If a person has a ugly soul, no matter how pretty they are the ugly soul will shine out. Another thing perspective has though me is that my whole family has "interesting" noses - my family history is literally written on my face and I don't want to change that (although less sinus infections would be great).

I could of course go on (an on) but I have to go an reapply my hot pink lippy..

Wednesday, November 21, 2012

Today we're heading to New York on a much needed and much anticipated trip! We've become hermits over the past few months in an effort to save every penny. We've saved and saved to take advantage of the Black Friday sales and can't wait to walk the legs off ourselves, check out the sights and of course the shops! We'll be there for Thanksgiving and will of course be checking out the Macy's Thanksgiving Day parade. I love watching Thanksgiving episodes of my favourite shows and they make me feel all warm and cosy so in an effort to feel warm and cosy on le blog, I've enlisted some of my favourite bloggers to tell us what they're thankful for, make up style!

So make up style, these are things I'm thankful for!

1. Giorgio Armani Eyes to Kill Mascara. Thank you Giorgio for making a mascara that is perfect. I no longer have beady villainous eyes anymore and it's for that reason that it has shot to the top of my favourite mascara list! Volume, length, separation, lift, just perfection in mascara form. I'll be stocking up in New York that's for sure!

2. Cicaplast Baume B5. I don't have a baldy notion what I'd do without this stuff, honestly. I have really dry lips at the best of times and this has been my absolute saviour since it launched earlier in the year. I apply a layer right before I get in to bed, then read a little and right before the lights go out, I apply a really thick layer of it and wake up with smooth, soft lips. I've actually woken up about three times with it in the bed with me, so that has to tell you something....

3. Thank you Shavata for bringing Artistic Nail Gloss into my life. I am hooked! I got three weeks out of the red colour above and had only three chips altogether which is spectacular for me as I'm so hard on my nails. I got the purple shade (Fierce) done on Thursday so that'll do me grand when I'm away. You can read more about it here but I'll tell you a secret, I don't miss having to change my nail polish every few days a single bit!

5. Opportunities. The past year has been filled with amazing opportunities for me and I've had the chance to work alongside some of my favourite brands, not to mention going to France to visit the treatment centre in La Roche Posay which has been the highlight of the year by a mile. I work so hard on the blog and invest a huge amount of time into it and it's heartening to see my hard work paying off! I don't take a single thing for granted and still get excited when a new product is sent to me or when I get invited to something and I don't think that will ever change. So thank you to all the brands that get me giddy over products week after week!

My final thank you is to you, my readers! Every comment makes my day and makes me strive to make this blog bigger, better, funnier and different to all of the other beauty blogs out there, so thank you! I might have a few little surprises for you over the next couple of weeks!

Tuesday, November 20, 2012

As much as I love glitter polish, it's a pain to remove, I don't care what you say! So I was delighted to see that Inglot have kept it glitter free this Christmas season and have focused on metallics. This way, there's still some interest to the nails and you won't be essentially exfoliating them trying to get your polish off!

We have shade 223 to show you today that we were given by Inglot and ooooh it's a purty one! Shade 223 is a cool toned gold polish with a metallic finish.

It has hints of olive green, light bronze and it's refreshing to see a really bright gold polish like this one. Usually they're yellow toned but this one is gowjus.

I made Joanne try this as I'm sporting my Artistic Nail Gloss at the mo' and she applied three coats of the polish to give this finish. The polish is quite thin but it dries really quickly and what you're left with is bright, shimmery nails, perfect for the party season!

Inglot nail polishes are €10 and they have eleventy billion shades, so go check them out stat!

Hands up who has more hair styling products than sense? Here at Casa Girlie Bits, we have straighteners, curling wands, curling tongs of various widths, all taking up space. So when I saw that Boots had a multistyler that promised to straighten and do four different curling styles, I couldn't wait to try it out. It arrived at Girlie Towers and I've been playing with it since. Want a look?

It has the usual on/off switch and a plus and minus button to increase or decrease the heat. There's a locking mechanism on the bottom that strangely enough, locks and unlocks the arms of the styler to give two different barrel widths, allowing curls of various sizes to be plonked into your locks.

You can see in the photo below how the locking mechanism allows the arms of the wand to sit parallel to each other, allowing for wider curls and it then by locking the arms together, you get smaller, more spiral curls. Those plastic looking covers on the arms of the styler are volume enhancers which help protect your scalp from the heat and allow for bigger, looser curls.

The volume enhancers snap off and are labelled top and bottom for when you snap them back on. You're left with a smaller wand similar to a curling wand and again, this can be locked to create spiral curls, S curls or looser curls. The wand heats up so much more without the volume enhancers so make sure you use a heat protector on your locks.

We'll have a tutorial post in the coming weeks to show it to you in action and you never know, we might have a video too! It's so easy to use and really does what it says on the tin. It's a fantastic multistyler that will make a brilliant present for a lucky lady!

The Glamoriser Multistyler is €135.99 in Boots but when I was in there last weekend, it was on sale at €90.65. Have you tried this yet? Stay tuned for our tutorial very soon!

Monday, November 19, 2012

Whenever these water charges come in to effect, I'm screwed. Over the past few weeks, I've absolutely loved having baths thanks to some fabulous goodies that found their way to moi. I try to make the most of each bath and I usually slap on a face mask, a hair mask and get relaxing in the tub until I go all wrinkly.

All of these would make great stocking fillers or treats for oneself, your decision, although at this time of year, it's always important to follow the cardinal rule of present buying. One For You And One For Me.

Sunnyside bubble bar - You can buy it on it's own or pick it up as part of the Merry Christmas gift box (€31.95) that's literally full of glitter! This gift box is my favourite of all of them and I've used everything from it already. Sunnyside bubble bar turns the water into liquid gold and it's the girliest of all the bubble bars out there. The Merry Christmas gift box also has the next product on my list.

Golden Wonder Bath Bomb - This is one of my favourite products ever from Lush and even Bailey loved seeing what it was all about last year. Check out my post here. Suffice to say, I bought about eight of these for gifts and myself last year (€4.10) and if you want some drama in the bath, this is the product for you! Buy it here.

Pixy Bath Muffin - A calorie free muffin? Don't mind if I do. I picked up two of these from Pixy recently (€3.50) and dutifully handed one over to the mothership as they were so cute. This one is the Relaxing Bath Muffin and smells divine. It has cocoa butter, shea butter and smells of jasmine and sandalwood. Gowjus! You can buy this here.

Philosophy Cinnamon Buns - The fact that it makes me feel like I'm having a bath in a big cozy mug of some Starbucks drink makes this my perfect It's-Freezing-Outside-And-I-Need-To-Warm-Up bath. All I'm missing is an actual Starbucks drink. This will set you back €17.50 but it can be used as both a shower gel and a bubble bath, and you can wash your hair with it too so technically, in the laws of Girlie Maths, it's not too bad financial wise. You can find these in Arnotts.

Abbott & Broome Tranquil Templetree Bath & Shower Gel. Finally, my newest love. I blogged about these guys last week but had to include it in my feature as it's €1.69, so the most bargainous out of all the products. I'll be honest, I wouldn't buy these for anyone just because a lot of people shop in Aldi these days and the last thing you'd want is to hand them a pressie worth less than €2 because it would then become a weapon and you'd have a huge dent in your noggin. But I'll keep buying this for myself and I've been using it in the shower and bath and am loving every minute of it!